FRANKSTON Council will consider extending many of its COVID-19 relief initiatives. At their August meeting councillors agreed to order a report which will assess “the feasibility of extending support and options to ratepayers who are experiencing financial hardship”. That report is due back in September. In principle, councillors supported not raising penalty interest on overdue rates payments and suspending legal costs relating to debt recovery action until 30 June 2021. They had previously resolved to put those measures on hold until the end of September this year. Council also agreed to prepare a second report, due back in February 2021,…
Author: Brodie Cowburn
THE Level Crossing Removal Project will hand over $3.5 million to council if it agrees to take over the maintenance of multiple assets created through recent rail line works. Frankston Council officers have been directed by councillors to finalise negotiations with the LXRP over what assets will be handed over. They are expected to include shared use paths, drainage infrastructure, car parking, and public lighting. If a memorandum of understanding is signed and council takes on maintenance of the assets, the LXRP will contribute $3.5 million towards council projects. Among the projects council has nominated to be funded with…
KINGSTON Council has approved changes to their long-discussed housing strategy and neighbourhood character study. The strategy contains new guidelines on dwelling heights and density. Among the changes from the draft document released by council last year is the classification of more properties into the “neighbourhood residential zone”. This would limit construction to two storeys, a maximum of nine meters in height. A total of 51.3 per cent of land in Kingston available for residential development had been classified as in the NRZ in the 2019 draft. That has now been expanded to at least 80 per cent. Areas in Mentone…
THREE residents at Bupa’s Edithvale aged care home have died after testing positive for COVID-19. The News understands that at least 29 residents at the nursing home have tested positive for coronavirus in the last month. It is understood 17 staff members at the nursing home have also tested positive. The first cases at the facility, which were a contractor and an employee, were reported on 19 July. Bupa Aged Care managing director Suzanne Dvorak penned a letter to relatives of the residents last week. “It has been a difficult few weeks for those that call Bupa Edithvale home,” she…
A WOMAN allegedly assaulted a police officer outside Bayside Shopping Centre last week after being asked to put on a mask. The maskless woman was confronted by police and asked to wear a face covering before a physical altercation occurred. The woman allegedly smashed the head of the 26-year-old policewoman into the concrete and pulled out clumps of her hair. The alleged offender, a 38-year-old, was taken to the nearby police station and charged. She was bailed out. The alleged incident took place on the evening of 3 August. Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton shared the story the next…